State Schools Proficiency Numbers Show Growth

By Bill Dries

The last school year of the Memphis City Schools system showed more than 5 percent growth each in math and science proficiency with roughly a third to 38 percent of those students rated as proficient or advanced.

Those are the results of Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests for third through eighth graders released by the state Monday, July 29, by school district.

The same results showed a 0.4 percent drop in the number of MCS students proficient in reading from the previous school year.

Shelby County Schools in its final school year as a separate school district from the city showed 5.9 percent growth in mathematics proficiency and 2.9 percent growth in science proficiency with 1.1 percent growth in reading proficiency from the previous school year.

(Daily News File/Lance Murphey)

The county schools numbers showed 63.3 percent of the students were proficient or advanced in math, 73.6 percent in science and 62.4 percent in reading.

Social studies scores showed 66.7 percent of city schools students were proficient or advanced with 91.4 percent of county schools students proficient. Memphis City Schools posted 2.9 percent proficiency growth from the previous school year and Shelby County Schools showed 0.5 percent growth.

The district by district numbers for the entire state showed 30 school districts posted double-digit gains in Algebra I proficiency and more than 50 districts, including Shelby County Schools, posted double digit percentage growth in Algebra II.

Shelby County had 17.8 percent growth in Algebra II from the previous school year.